Not exactly breaking news: PSA’s Hybrid Air tech has been in the press for a while, but they showed the Cactus concept at Frankfurt and are saying that the technology will be available in production cars from 2016.

Citroen seem to have a historical obsession with hydraulic air technology, and often bizarre yet ingenious innovation, from the legendary and huge selling DS to the present day. Their hydraulic air suspension is notable, and now alongside Bosch they are applying air and oil pressure technology to drive/energy storage.

It makes a lot of sense though: the technology is (in principle at least) mechanically simple, doesn’t require a great deal of exotic materials or rare earths, and it’s light with an estimated weight saving of up to 100 kg compared to a battery Hybrid, which is the first step towards efficiency. Also: the storage system should lasts a lot longer than batteries, without the gradual loss of capacity after multiple charge cycles, and fewer recycling issues. The system is effectively simpler, lighter and cheaper than a battery, using tested technologies

The PSA Bosch hybrid system uses pressure from the engine and also from regenerative braking – (more…)